


I Love You to Death

by CosmicCove



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't proof read yet. its 2AM. forgive me., Inspired By Tumblr, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Beta Read, Valiant Hero ending, also ellie is there, but an AU where Charles survives inspired by a Tumblr blog, but my fic my rules, i know they aren't suppose to know her in this ending, major character death. but like. not really., slight gore maybe?, the boys. they are in love.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25892863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicCove/pseuds/CosmicCove
Summary: Henry is changed after the death of his dear friend Charles.  ...But what if Charles wasn't really gone?
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin
Comments: 35
Kudos: 416





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Charles surviving the Valiant Hero ending comes from Tumblr user Stick-Man-Simp and a few anons. I also added in Ellie, even though they should meet in this route, because fuck it. It's my fic, and I get to say that somehow Ellie and Henry both end up presumed dead.

If Henry could describe the days following the destruction of the Toppat satellite, he’d probably use blurry or dull. It was like being in a dream. Everything seemed slow and unreal, feeling nothing but a numbness that seemed to add tones of gray to the world. After he had returned, after the funeral, General Galeforce had told him of their plans to sift through the remains of the Toppat satellite. There had been the lingering of an unspoken invitation to join in the effort when he was told this, but Henry’s dejected expression answered for him. No, Henry did not even humor the idea, he returned home instead. 

The second day after Charles’ death (or he assumed so, but he couldn’t keep track of time well in this state), Ellie visited. They both just sat on the couch, a moment of silence between the two stretching into an hour before she spoke up. “I know I didn’t really know him that well, but he sounded like a great guy.” 

“One of the best,” Henry rasped. He hadn’t spoken in days. 

Ellie nodded. “I can tell he meant a lot to you,” Ellie continued, “That one time we were all together, it was plain as day how much he meant to you.” 

“He meant more to me than he’d even known,” Henry replied with a bitter laugh. 

“I know,” she sighed, “It was in the way you looked at him with a certain gentleness. I don’t think I’ve seen you like that before or after.” 

He laughed again, more at Ellie’s cleverness than out of bitterness this time. “I guess you already know then. I was in love with Charles.” 

“I can’t imagine what this must be like for you.” 

“You know what’s strange? I don’t think I can either. I mean, I know that I’m feeling things- or maybe that I'm not feeling things- but I can think of how to describe it.” Henry sighed. “What I wouldn’t give to get him back…” 

After what could have been a day or could have been a month but most just felt like radio static, Henry received another call from General Galeforce. “We found him,” the General told him. 

Henry felt a hot sense of dread welling up inside of him, making him feel like he was going to burst into flames, or at least vomit. “Oh?” he whimpered despite his best effort to sound composed. 

“It’s good news, Stickmin,” General Galeforce clarified, “Charlie is alive. We don’t know how, but he’s alive.” 

Somehow, the sick feeling in his stomach seemed to grow and twist, making him feel even more like he was going to puke, but the gray tint to the world finally seemed to fade away. “Alive?” Henry echoed, his voice just barely audible. 

“He’s in bad shape. We believe he’s in a comatose state, and the fact that nobody’s tended to him yet definitely puts him even further into a possible fatality, but the medics we brought along for the mission are confident that they’ll be able to keep him alive,” Galeforce explained, then, as if an afterthought, he added, “The fact that he survived the blast and all the time it took for him to be found… It really is a miracle.” 

“Yeah,” Henry agreed, his voice hoarse. 

“I’ll keep you updated, Stickmin,” the General closed out his call, his voice offering more sympathy than Henry knew Galeforce could. There was a click as the phone was hung up, leaving Henry to listen to the silence afterwards, somehow pushing down upon him like it could suffocate him. He lowered the phone down onto the table. Henry felt like screaming. Tears peaked out from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, the burning sick feeling in his still-twisted up stomach transforming into a burning rage. 

Was it all for nothing? All the grief? All the pain? But, isn’t this what he wanted, for it all to go away? He knew he should be happy, so why was he so angry? It was like there was a war in his heart, one side of him trying to be overjoyed at the news that Charles was alive, the other side flaming with rage that he couldn’t have known soon, couldn’t have been spared so much heartache, couldn’t have helped Charles sooner. It felt like there was so much he couldn’t have done, or wished he had done. It made his head spin and tied his stomach into tighter and tighter knots, his vision clouded with tears, so that he simply dragged himself to bed and stayed there the rest of the day. 

The next day he received another call that Charles made it back to earth without any complications. He still hadn’t woken up but he was here, he was getting medical attention, and the doctors predicted that he’d recover. Immediately following the call, Henry grabbed his car keys and left. The drive to the military base where they were treating Charles felt way too fast, yet simultaneously like it took an eternity. Henry didn’t care though, the whole ordeal was filled to the brim with contradictions, and now all he cared about was Charles. 

“Stickmin?” Galeforce asked when he saw him. After a moment of thought, he continued, “I should have expected you to come.” 

“Where’s Charles?” 

“Stickmin, Charlie is not in the shape to be visited,” General Galeforce sighed, “We’re not allowed to let you see him.” 

“You have to!” Henry argued, “You have to let me see him!” 

Galeforce sighed. “Look, I know you’re going through a lot. Charlie was your best friend. I understand that having to wait longer to see him is the last thing you want to do, but please try to understand. It’s for his own good.” 

Henry looked at the ground with a soft and dejected, “Ah…” 

“I’ll let you stay on the premises until then,” the general told him, “And I’ll try to get you in good with the doctors. Maybe they’ll make an exception.” 

Henry hadn’t seen the general so subdued, so understanding before. It made Henry wonder how many times General Galeforce had done this before, telling family and friends of his troops that they couldn’t see their loved one despite their critical condition, or worse, that they wouldn’t be seeing their loved one ever again. And then Galeforce himself, how many good men had he lost, men that he cared for lost in the line of duty, men like Charles? Henry already knew he couldn’t have been the only one mourning Charles, but seeing what appeared to be a form of grief from someone else was, in a way, humbling, even comforting. The thought of not being the only one affected left Henry feeling a little less alone. Henry actually smiled, however fleeting. 

The next two days weren’t sad as the past ones had been, nor angry like he’d been, but rather, hollow. People around the base were constantly reminding him of the miracle that had happened, and while Henry agreed that Charles’ survival could only be explained as simply a miracle, it still hardly felt like a miracle to him. The man he loved had been caught in an explosion, only to be found days later barely clinging to life. It just didn’t feel very miraculous to Henry at all. 

The third day on the base, things officially began turning around for Henry Stickmin. General Galeforce visited him that morning. “I talked to the medical staff. They agreed to let you see him now.” 

Henry’s expression started surprised, then stretched into a wide grin. “Thank you!” Henry cried, before dashing out of the room. As quick as he could, he was inside of the infirmary building. There was a doctor there waiting for him. “Are you-” he glanced down at a clipboard in his hands “-Henry Stickmin?” 

“Yes!” 

“Right this way, Mr. Stickmin.” 

Henry nodded once, following the doctor up a floor and down a hall. “He’s in here,” the doctor told him, “I’ll give you a moment, but be careful around him. He’s still in a bad state.” 

It was another contradiction, the pure relief and utter dread Henry felt when he entered the room. It was like he was beholding an angel- had he already somehow forgotten how wonderful just seeing Charles was? Yet, there was terror to the sight. It was all the bandages wrapping up almost all of his friend, no down covering burns and all manners of injuries from shrapnel. 

Henry approached slowly until he was at Charles’ bedside. He didn’t dare get closer, no matter how much he wanted to brush his messy hair out of his face, or to hold his hand. He didn’t trust that any amount of gentleness would be enough to be painless against Charles’ wounds. Tears were streaming down his face again as he lovingly gazed down at who felt like his very lifeline. “I missed you,” Henry breathed. 

The following week, Henry never left the room unless the doctors deemed it absolutely necessary. He felt more and more at ease the more he watched Charles heal. However, he never felt the stress alleviate so long as Charles was still unresponsive. Finally, the time came where Henry was sure that Charles was well enough, and he mustered up a bit of bravery and entwined his fingers with Charles’. Like a spell had been broken, Charles’ eyes fluttered open. “Henry,” he muttered, his voice hoarse from the lack of use as well as all the smoke from the explosion. 

“Charles!” Henry exclaimed, “Oh my God! You had me so upset! Please don’t ever do that again!” 

Charles laughed, although his laughter shifted into a fit of coughing after a few seconds. “I don’t plan on doing that again,” he joked. 

“Hang on a second, buddy, I gotta go tell the doctors you’re awake.” 

The doctors set to work on all sorts of tests to make sure Charles was okay, and Henry was as close as they’d allow for every single one of them, whether that was right by his side or in the hall. After hours, they finished their tests. The doctors were thrilled to report that Charles had no complications and would only be held one more night so they could monitor him. Of course, Henry insisted to stay with Charles despite Charles’ protesting that Henry should just go home because he’d already been here for so long. 

They chatted about nothing in particular until late into the night. Henry was seated in a chair pulled up to Charles’ bed, his hand tenderly holding onto his. Finally, Charles mentioned, “Out of anyone who could have been there, I’m glad it was you.” 

“I’m just glad you woke up,” Henry replied with a laugh. 

“Oh me too!” Charles agreed, also laughing, “but it was really nice, the way you were holding my hand. It was nice to wake up to.” 

Henry nodded. He looked away with a bittersweet smile. He wanted to tell Charles how he felt, but he just wasn’t brave enough. He thought on that thought a bit longer. No, no he was brave enough. He had powered through everything up to this point. He was Henry Stickmin, master thief, destroyer of the Toppat Clan, and he was brave enough. 

“Charles, I have to tell you something,” Henry told him, “It’s something I should have told you a long time ago.” 

“Go for it!” 

Henry took a deep breath. “I love you. I have for a long time. I thought I’d missed the chance to tell you…” 

“Oh Henry!” Charles cooed softly, a wide grin on his face, “I love you too! And I also have for a long time!” 

“Really?” Henry asked, tearing up a little bit. 

“Yes,” Charles confirmed gently. 

Henry smiled at him softly. “I know this isn’t an ideal time but,” Henry asked, “Can I kiss you?” 

“I have been waiting for you to say that for a long time,” Charles sighed. They leaned towards each other and kissed, both feeling very content and safe for the first time since the explosion. 

* * *

“Charlie, just because you’re allowed to leave the infirmary doesn’t mean you can just go head first into a new mission,” General Galeforce sighed in exasperation. 

“What? C’mon, let me do something! I’ve been out of commission for too long!” 

Henry put a hand on Charles’ shoulder. “Charles, you need to take a break.” 

“Listen to Stickmin, Charlie,” Galeforce commanded, “He’s gone through hell and back over you.” 

There was a small pause, then Charles huffed. “Okay,” he agreed. 

Walking away from the base, Charles confided in Henry, “I honestly don’t have a place to stay. I usually only get about a month off duty, and there’s a small place I rent out during that time, but right now I can’t, not on such short notice.” 

“Come stay with me,” Henry suggested. 

“What?” 

A small look of fear crossed Henry’s face. “Was that too forward?” 

“No, just surprising, even though it shouldn’t be at this point,” Charles giggled. 

“So you’re staying?” 

“Will I wake up with you holding my hand again?” 

Well, Henry had to laugh at that request. “Of course.” 

The rest of the day consisted of getting Charles situated at Henry’s house. Most of it was actually Henry setting up a place for Charles to keep the few things he’d brought along, and generally making sure there was enough in the house for two people. All the while, Charles begged Henry to _please_ let him help out while Henry reminded him that he had just blown up four weeks ago over and over again. After hours of arguing back and forth, Charles quieted to a pout that Henry laughed at a little bit. It was kind of cute! 

Eventually, the night wound down, and the two had settled into bed next to one another, holding hands as promised. After some amount of time (Henry couldn’t be sure, but it felt like hours), Charles asked, “Can’t sleep?” 

“No.” 

“Me neither,” Charles admitted, “I can only really remember before it happened. This sickening fear within me, thinking I was going to die. At least you were there, listening to me; talking to me a little, too. I wasn’t alone. And then this intense heat followed by blinding light then deafening sound. And then I was waking up with my hand in yours.” Charles laughed at that. “In retrospective, it’s almost like you never left me at all.” 

“I wish I hadn’t,” Henry muttered, “I did leave you, and I wish I hadn’t.” 

“You didn’t have much of a choice. It’s not your fault.” 

“It wasn’t fair though,” Henry pointed out, “It was me who was shoved out of the pod. I should have been the one caught in the blast.” 

“I couldn’t allow that,” Charles said softly. 

“I just don’t understand,” Henry mumbled, “Why’d you do that?” 

Charles wrapped his arms around Henry and pulled him closer. He pressed a kiss into Henry’s forehead tenderly. “Can’t you see?” he asked, “You truly mean the world to me, Henry Stickmin. I love you so much I’d die for you. I love you to death."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not really into Henry Stickmin anymore. I've been hyperfixating elsewhere.... Oops! But I'm updating this by popular demand! There were actually supposed to be two chapters, one about Ellie, but sadly I never was able to write Ellie's chapter in a way that I like and I kept deleting it and rewriting it and the chapter for afterwards was already finished and I was like "oh no this will never get posted if I keep trying to write this other chapter" so I hope this doesn't feel too awkward haha!

Only a day later, Ellie showed up unannounced. She only stayed a few hours to make conversation and check on Charles. Ellie was observant though, more observant than Charles, and after her visit, it left him with a lot to think about. So, Charles was sitting on the couch. He needed to contemplate things a little. It all made sense. He just wished he’d seen it sooner. 

Henry had grown a great deal more protective of Charles after his presumed death. At first, Charles hadn’t realized it. It wasn’t until Ellie had noted, “He always seems to be worried when he’s not around you,” that Charles began to notice. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed sooner. 

It was the way Henry held his hand, not tight enough to hurt, but firm enough that no outside force could separate them. It was in the way Henry held Charles at night, the way Charles woke up with Henry pressed into him. It was in the way that, despite Henry’s best efforts to appear calm, panic flashed in his eyes whenever the subject of Charles returning to work came up. The air around Henry felt heavy with guilt. He never stopped blaming himself. 

It crossed Charles’ mind to just quit, just once or twice. He could stop being a military pilot, in fact, drop military work completely, to save Henry from so much grief. He knew deep down he couldn’t. He missed his helicopter. No, it went deeper than that, and he knew it. Stopping his work wouldn’t help Henry, because it wasn’t the help Henry needed, and without the help he really needed, Henry would always be afraid. Henry wasn’t afraid of Charles piloting again, he was afraid of losing Charles again. 

Charles shifted his position, feeling a great deal uncomfortable with the thought. He’d never meant to hurt Henry, not like this, not ever. Positives, positives, he needed to focus on the positives… Of course Charles knew that his return was good for Henry, ultimately, but it was hard to be optimistic when it still seemed that there were detriments to it as well. Instead of easing, Henry’s survivor’s guilt had only seemed to worsen. Henry’s words echoed in Charles’ mind, “I should have gone back. It should have been me who found him. I left him there!” Charles wished that Henry could see his own dedication. There was never a second that Charles felt unloved. 

But that wasn’t positive, and he needed to focus on the good! He listed everything in his mind, things from that morning alone. There were forehead kisses, and Henry’s smile, and the way Henry had laughed because of the silly things Charles said, the sound more beautiful than any other. With a glance at the table beside the couch, Charles found more reasons to smile. That was the answering machine he had given to Henry, was it? Henry even kept the sticky note, _Charles :)_ , right there with it! That made Charles feel nice and warm! 

More interesting, a pen and small sheet of paper torn from a notepad was next to it. “Possible jobs:” Charles read as he picked up the sheet. He knew Henry sometimes wrote down the places he wanted to rob, or good opportunities for crime, but this was different, heartwarmingly so. “Uber driver, store clerk, test subject, drive thru…” 

Charles grinned. “He could definitely be an Uber driver,” he murmured to himself. He reread the list. _Test subject?_ Charles picked up the pen and crossed that off. Henry wasn’t the only one who could be protective. 

“Hey!” peeped a voice across the room. Well, speak of the devil. “Oh, you saw that? What do you think?” Henry asked. His voice had significantly improved since Charles had returned. Yeah, he still only talked to Charles, Ellie, and General Galeforce, opting to sign to everyone else, but that was the Henry that everyone always remembered. 

“Uber driver,” Charles suggested, “You can drive anything, including that tank you take everywhere. It’s the perfect job for you.” 

Henry laughed quietly. He slipped the list and pen from Charles to himself, conveniently brushing hands with Charles despite the fact that there was plenty of space to take it without. Charles watched him circle ‘Uber driver.’ “Why’d you cross one off?” Henry asked. 

Charles giggled at how ridiculous Henry could be sometimes. “Because I’m not letting you be a test subject!” Charles insisted, “That’s so dangerous!” 

“Whatever gets us cash, though, right?” 

“No, Henry,” Charles argued gently, “I don’t want to lose you. You’re worth more than all the money in the world.” 

“You don’t wanna… Yeah…” Henry tried to laugh but it was just a huff. He paused. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright, Henry, we’ve all thought of doing stupid things for money,” Charles shrugged, “Like when I was ten I colored my hands with pink highlighter on a bet of two dollars. It took days to wash it off!” 

That got Henry to laugh weakly. “No, I mean, for making you feel like you were going to lose me. 

Charles snapped to serious mode. There’s a time for jokes and there’s a time to just talk. “Henry, are you okay?” Of course he wasn’t, but even if it’s a stupid question, it’s a good place to start. 

“I- No,” Henry admitted, “I just- when you- I thought I lost you.” 

“I know,” Charles hummed, “Here. Come here.” He opened up his arms. 

Henry obliged, dragging his feet over to the couch and cuddling up into Charles’ arms. Charles pressed his lips against Henry’s forehead, hoping for even just a ghost of a smile. Instead, he got tears. “I don’t want you to go through that.” 

He could never get Henry to open up to him about it. Charles knew that both of them would feel better if they did though. “What was it like?” Charles asked in earnest. He wanted, _needed_ to know. 

“It was empty,” Henry sighed, “I knew I’d never see you again- at least I thought I would, and I’m incredibly lucky that I did see you again. But during that time, I felt like there was a void inside me, a blackhole seeping the life out of me from the inside out. It was like without you I was incomplete.” 

“What did you do?” 

“I cried. I stopped talking. And I waited, and I don’t know why,” Henry continued as Charles wiped away his tears as they ran down his cheeks, the feeling of Charles’ thumb brushing against his skin a comfort. “Maybe I knew deep down that you were okay, or maybe I was waiting for a one-in a-million-miracle. Either way, it ended up working.” 

Charles smiled, his heart warming. “I’m glad that you got your miracle.” 

“But the waiting… It was horrible. The grief, the loneliness, all of it was horrible. I don’t want that for you.” 

“It’s okay right now, alright?” Charles reassured him, “We’re both right here. I can feel you in my arms, and you can feel me, right?” Henry nodded. “Yes, see?” Charles continued, “It’s okay now.” 

Henry finally smiled, although he hadn’t stopped crying. “Yeah,” he agreed, his voice so close to inaudible that calling it a whisper felt like an understatement. Henry nuzzled his face into Charles’ chest, and then there was a pleasant silence. That heavy feeling of guilt that seemed to hang around Henry suddenly felt lighter, Charles noticed. 

This was okay. They were okay. Everything was okay.


End file.
